Under the Whirlwind: Everything You Need to Know about Tornadoes But Didn't Know Who to Ask [Paperback]

Arjen Verkaik (Author), Jerrine Verkaik (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-This valuable resource presents a wealth of information about a powerful weather phenomenon. Throughout the text, which claims to provide "Everything you need to know about tornadoes but didn't know who to ask," color-coded boxes highlight facts, myths, and checklists, providing easy perusal of the facts and trivia. There is an excellent section on weather basics and tips on reading the sky. The chapters on the development and structure of tornadoes offer understandable explanations of how they form, the various types, and the F-scale by which their power is measured. "Don't Just Stand There" focuses on safety and gives important guidelines on how to best protect yourself and your family. The authors give practical advice to victims, rescuers, and "tornado tourists." They even give guidance on dealing with post-tornado trauma as well as working with insurance companies and building to withstand strong winds. This informative and approachable volume has numerous colorful photographs, charts, and diagrams that clearly illustrate the text and provide something for everyone.-Mary Alice Giarda, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Whirlwind Books; illustrated edition edition (March 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0968153704
• ISBN-13: 978-0968153703
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly written, diverse & well-illustrated tornado tome, July 4, 2001

By 

Roger Edwards (Norman, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under the Whirlwind: Everything You Need to Know about Tornadoes But Didn't Know Who to Ask (Paperback)

Although the authors are Canadian, and aim the book at an audience north of the U.S., American weather enthusiasts and anyone wondering about tornadoes will soak this up. "Under the Whirlwind" is a solid work overall; and for a self-published book, it is amazingly informative and accurate. Readers may be as surprised at the Verkaiks' insight into severe storms issues, since they are not meteorologists. However, their devotion to learning scientific concepts, combined with their extensive storm observing experience and conversational writing style, allows them to succeed with this book. Although the reading is light in a purely technical sense, I found only a few typos and insignificant errors. More important are the clear messages of practicality, realism, education and compassion in the book -- which includes numerous suvivors' tales as well as segments on insurance coverage and helping children to deal with storm-related tragedy. The authors convey a wise message of safety and responsibility as well, for example: "After damaging tornadoes strike there are usually calls for better alert systems -- more bells and whistles.... But the best warning you can have comes from keeping your eye on the sky."

The illustrations are numerous and excellent, without peer in popular severe weather literature. Their deep artistic and educational appreciation for the wonders of a stormy sky pours forth in the form of dozens of full-color photos -- many consisting of spectacular storm structure scenes taken on their forays to the American Great Plains. These aren't presented just to show off the Verkaiks' mastery of storm photography, but to aid in interpreting cloud features. There are also several interesting, high-quality, contributed photos of Canadian tornadoes which never have been published before. The Verkaiks richly endow the volume with drawings, tables and color graphs as well, including numerous inset trivia boxes scattered throughout the book related to debunked tornado myths and tornado oddities.

Because this hasn't been a widely advertised book or peddled by a major publishing house since its 1997 debut, it may go under the radar, so to speak. But it is well worth the cost for students and general audiences curious about the mysteries of tornadoes.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting asnd informative!, December 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Under the Whirlwind: Everything You Need to Know about Tornadoes But Didn't Know Who to Ask (Paperback)

This book has several fascinating accounts of personal encounters with tornadoes and is very informative about the structure and occurance of storms and tornadoes. The descriptions are easy to understand and very detailed. I have been interested in storms for years and have learned a great deal from this book about how to identify parts of a storm and determine how severe it is and may get and where tornodoes will occur. There are many good diagrams and quality color pictures of storms and tornadoes. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in storms but doesn't know all the details about them.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was the best book I have ever read on the subject., April 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Under the Whirlwind: Everything You Need to Know about Tornadoes But Didn't Know Who to Ask (Paperback)

Under The Whirlwind is, one of the best books about tornadoes available. By reading the book, you will gain an amazing amount of knowledge, and be able to look at the sky with amazement and knowledge about what you see happening. It explains everything you ever wanted or need to know about severe weather and tornadoes, and it is written in understandable terms. Buy this book, and impress your friends with your knowledge of the stormy sky!